March 10, 2009

UCSB Geographer Discusses Impacts of Growth on the South Coast

In 2004, the Santa Barbara Economic Community Project released a study outlining the impact of growth on the South Coast. Titled the Regional Impacts of Growth Study (RIGS), the report was an update to an influential study conducted in the 1970's. The newer report, however, used computer modeling to simulate and map the geography, economics, and demography of Santa Barbara up to the year 2040.

In a UCSB Affiliates Science Lite lecture titled "The South Coast Regional Impacts of Growth Study Six Years Later," Keith C. Clarke, a research cartographer and professor of geography at UC Santa Barbara, will give an overview of RIGS and examine the forecasts made in 2004, and which are likely to be reached by 2040.

The presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, at the First Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 21 E. Constance St. in Santa Barbara. The cost is $8 for UCSB Affiliates and Chancellor's Council members and $10 for all others. Advance registration is recommended, and can be arranged by calling the UCSB Office of Community Relations at (805) 893-4388.

Clarke is the Santa Barbara director of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, an independent research consortium dedicated to basic research and education in geographic information science and related technologies. The three member institutions are UCSB, the University at Buffalo, and the University of Maine. Clark's research group built and ran the simulation models used in the 2004 study and were co-authors of the report. The future was presented as a series of scenarios

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likely or possible outcomes of policies that could be set for the South Coast area.

A specialist in analytical cartography, Clarke is conducting research on environmental simulation and urban growth modeling, and terrain mapping and analysis. He is chair of the National Academy of Sciences' Mapping Sciences Committee, and recently directed studies on The National Map, a collaborative effort between the United

States Geological Survey and other federal, state, and local agencies. He also has directed research priorities at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which develops imagery and map-based intelligence solutions for United States national defense, homeland security, and safety of navigation.

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